Disclaimer: Hey you guys… Yeah… You guessed it… InuYasha and Co. doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Rumiko-chan.

Author's notes: YAY for me!!! I actually made it to chapter three! This is amazing!! Oky day. Here's a little update. I've been working hard to get this update. Sorry it took me sooooo long to update, I had the whole chapter pretty much done, but then I had to go off to school where this site is banned and then I was grounded from the computer (growls).But here is the next chapter. Bet you thought I wouldn't get another chapter in, didn't ya? Well, I'm here again to prove you wrong!! N e ways, here's the next chapter and I hope you like it, please review!

Chapter 3: Things Get Heavy

"Sango, Sango, Sango!!!! Guess what, guess what, guess what!?" Kagome was jumping up and down with joy, literally, as she called up her best friend to tell her the good news.

"What? You got a tattoo? I'm so proud of you!" Sango laughed sarcastically. She knew very well that there was no way that Kagome would let a needle of any kind touch her, let alone a tattooing needle, but she enjoyed antagonizing her anyway.

"No! I got a date! I'm going down town to watch the motorcycle races!" Kagome squealed like a little schoolgirl with a new crush.

"Sweet. That's awesome. Who's the guy?" Sango was surprised to hear this. It had been their sophomore year of high school the last time Kagome had had a real date, and that had not gone very well.

"You'll never believe it! Tessaiga InuYasha! He came over earlier and asked if I would want to join him to go to the race."

"That's really nice. Enjoy yourself. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Sango said in a motherly voice.

"Ha ha… Very funny. You know me, I'm not that kinda girl. Anyway, how's the honeymoon going? Having fun?" Kagome finally started settling down as she walked into the living room to watch some TV.

"Yeah! I'm telling you, you need to get married and soon, the perks are great! Alright, I need to go now; we're going out for some dinner. Love you girl, have a good time. I'll call tomorrow." Sango said warmly into the receiver.

"Yeah, you have a good time too. Talk to you later." Kagome smashed the button to end the call and slumped down in the armchair.

InuYasha had left about a half an hour ago, saying that he needed to tweak his bike a little more before the race. He promised to be there on time; right on the dot, and he had also reminded Kagome of the fact that this event was not a formal occasion. Then he had left, leaving only one thing with Kagome. A deep tingly feeling in the pit of her stomach that would not be shaken no matter how hard she tried. She placed her hands over her flat stomach as if it would stop the tingle. A glance at the clock told her she had five hours until she needed to leave. Plenty of time to get freshened up. Maybe a long hot shower would get rid of the tingle.

Kagome turned the knob on the tub and hung her hand in the stream of water to test its heat. When it got to the perfect temperature, she pulled a knob out and let the water redirect to the showerhead. With that, she pulled off her pajamas and hopped in.

xXx

At the same time Kagome was talking to Sango, InuYasha pulled into the abandoned parking lot once again. He sat in the middle of the lot for a minute before turning the bike on once more to drive it into the warehouse. If he was going to tweak it, might as well take it in right then rather than later.

Years before, when InuYasha had just gotten into biking, he had won this warehouse in a gamble, and quite a gamble it had been. He had immediately set about turning it into a bike tuning shop, designed specifically for street racers to tweak their bikes, for a small price for the use of his equipment. Mufflers in droves hung from hooks on the walls, tires sat in piles to one side, gas cans full of gas sat around the pit. Oil stained the concrete floors where bikers had tinkered with the settings of their motorcycles. There was even a paint shop on the far side of the warehouse.

"Musou! Get your pretty butt down here!" InuYasha shouted over the sound of the welders and the blaring rock music.

Within a minute's time, a man just a little younger than InuYasha ran out of one of the many upstairs offices and leapt down the stairs. Black hair and plain olive skin marked him as human, along with his tendency to act like a pretty boy.

"I need to get Katsu running a little faster. Got a race tonight." InuYasha gestured to his trusty bike.

"Not a problem. We'll pull her over the pit and get to work. But, uh, when's the race?" Musou scratched the back of his head and looked over at the bike.

"Nine… I think. Pretty sure. Just get her ready by an hour before then! And keep her clean! I don't want all your greasy finger prints on her paint job like last time!" InuYasha stormed off to the biggest of the warehouse's offices and slammed the door shut, leaving Musou staring after him.

"What's with him?" Musou asked the figure that had just walked over.

"Not sure. Probably girl troubles… or stress. Maybe he's constipated." Shippou joked. The two shared a short laugh and then Shippou slapped Musou on the back and made his way to InuYasha's office.

"Hey Yasha. What's new?" Shippou asked as he burst into the office.

"Geez! Do you have to come in here uninvited!?" InuYasha straightened in a flash from whatever he had been doing behind his desk.

"Sorry man. My bad. Watcha doing there?" The fifteen-year-old leaned his hip against the desk and crossed his arms, the same pose that InuYasha often took.

"Looking for my silver chain. I dropped it here sometime last night and now it's gone." Came the muffled reply from below the ebony desk.

Shippou peered over the top of the desk to see InuYasha. He did not even want to bother asking what had been going on in the office the night before that had lost the hanyou's chain. InuYasha's personal life was not something to get into, unless of course you wanted a bloody nose and cracked skull, something Shippou had learned quickly over the past seven years. He shrugged and looked back out the wide window.

"So… uh, you bringing anyone to the race? I think I'm gonna bring Satsuki." He asked nonchalantly.

"If I was bringin' someone to the race, runt, I would never tell you!" Growled InuYasha, still searching for his lost chain.

"What's her name?" Shippou had lived around the rough-cut hanyou long enough to know the difference between what he said and what he meant.

"You never quite, do ya? Annoying pest… Ah-ha! Gotcha!" The hanyou jumped up from the floor clutching the missing chain victoriously in the air, letting the sun streaming in from the window play on its burnished surface. Just then, Shippou burst into peels of laughter.

"What the frick are you laughing at, half-pint!?" InuYasha shot defensively at the laughing teenager.

Shippou could only point at InuYasha's face as he clutched his belly, tears rolling down his cheeks, fluffy red tail quivering from the laughter. The reason for the boy's merriment was the dust and cobwebs that covered InuYasha's face from chin to swiveling dog ear. InuYasha wiped the dust off his face viciously and pointed toward the door. Shippou took the ever so subtle hint (not!) and left, still wiping tears from his face.

InuYasha slumped down into his armchair and sighed. He leaned forward, rested his elbows on the desk then rested his head in his hands. After sitting there for at least five minutes, he raked his claws through his silver hair aggitatedly. Pictures of Kagome fluttered through his mind like ghosts. The way her slender hips swayed when she walked, the way her chocolate brown eyes always seemed to smile playfully at him. Her beautiful white teeth smiling at him, her pink lips puckering into a frown, her chest moving in sync to her calm breathing or quivering in laughter. He could not get the girl out of his head, no matter how hard he tried. Forever his mind turned to one question over and over again: Is she thinking about me?

xXx

In answer to InuYasha's question, Kagome was indeed thinking about him. In a similar manner to the way that he was thinking about her too. All the while she was in the shower, whether washing her wavy hair, lathering her thin body up, or rinsing off. The way his silvery hair caught the sunlight, his amber eyes piercingly gazing at her as if her soul had been laid bare before him, and the twitching of the two white dog-ears that crowned his head. These things played over and over in her head like a broken record. She could see him in fine detail, from the way his shoes were tied to the curious tattoos on his neck and left shoulder.

"Oh dear. I can't go doing this! He's a biker and he probably only wants me to sleep with him. It's the same way every time." Kagome chided herself harshly as she gazed at the full-length mirror in her bedroom.

Slowly, she made herself ready to leave, pulling her hair into a low braid, applying some black kohl to her eyelids and lip-gloss to her lips. Taking InuYasha to his word, she pulled on a loose pair of jeans and a green and white tank top. After a second of gazing into the mirror, she took the tank off and put a blue spaghetti top on instead.

"I'm never gonna be happy with myself, am I?" Kagome sighed. Down at her feet, Kirara mewed softly. Kagome stooped down and picked the tiny creature up and cradled her in her arms.

"Do you think I look okay?" She asked Kirara, holding her at arm's length. A happy mew was the reply and Kagome smiled as she set the neko down on the dresser top.

"I guess I'll stick with the green one. I like green better anyway." Off went the blue top and on went the green and white tank.

xXx

"Dang you, Musou! What the (bleep!) is takin' so long?! Can't you do anything right?" InuYasha burst out of his office to look down at his precious bike, cursing the young mechanic that had come up to his office.

It had taken Musou a lot longer to change the settings on the motorcycle then he had first predicted. A whole hour longer to be exact. Once he was done, the bike had been covered in greasy fingerprints and oil splashes, exactly what InuYasha had warned Musou not to do. Needless to say, InuYasha was not a happy camper.

"Sorry InuYasha, the motor wasn't working the right way to handle the changes we made. I had to change that too, and that's messy work, ya know." Musou said in his defense, his hands lifted palm up.

"Sorry? Sorry?! Just get her cleaned up! NOW! And for all the trouble you're already in, give her a wax job too!" The last words were punctuated by a slam of the metal door and feet stumbling down the stairs as Musou was evicted from the angry man's office.

As soon as everyone was out of hearing range, InuYasha pulled out his cell phone and dialed Kagome's number. She's gonna kill me. I just know it. But all I can do is apologize. The phone rang four times before the before the afore said girl picked it up.

"Moshi moshi? Higurashi speaking." Came a quiet voice.

"Kagome? It's InuYasha. I'm sorry I'm so late," InuYasha looked down at his watch, half an hour late, "I've been havin' some troubles with the motorcycle. I should be there in an hour, or there about."

"No problem. I'll be waiting. I'll just finish my supper. Since you're so late, I figured I might as well eat." Kagome said. Her voice sounded a little strained, but other than that she sounded fine.

"Good idea. I'll have to take ya to supper some other time." There was a pause in which InuYasha pulled the phone away from his ear and listened to the work down stairs. "Hey, my bike's about done now, I think. I'll be over in thirty minutes." With that he hung up and bounded down the stairs.

"All done. And waxed." Musou moved out of InuYasha's way and went to work on another bike, happy to be done with the volatile hanyou.

"Can't trust any of these half wits to do anything right the first time." The hanyou mumble as he pulled his helmet on. He put the bike in full throttle and raced out of the warehouse, hoping that he wasn't too late to pick Kagome up, and get to the races.

xXx

Kagome sat at her counter slowly eating her bowl of oden. She had lost her appetite about a half an hour ago with the absence of one person. Who it was was an easy guess to anyone that had been around a few hours before hand. She absent-mindedly pushed the last bit of seafood oden around the bowl with her chopsticks and sighed.

Meow, meow! Sang the little fluff ball on the kitchen floor.

"Hey girl. Should have known that this would happen. Every guy is the same. Oh well, guess I'll just make the best of it. Maybe he really was having bike troubles." Kagome murmured quietly as she ran a hand over the cat's downy fur.

Just then, a horn sounded down stairs in the parking lot. Kagome walked over to the window and looked down. There was InuYasha straddling his bike looking up at her and waving. He had come after all.

Kagome grabbed her messenger bag and coat and left her apartment. She made her way slowly down the stairs and into the lobby where InuYasha had decided to wait for her.

"Once again, sorry I'm so late. The stupid mechanic messed the bike up and I had to get her cleaned again." The hanyou said once again, trying desperately to cover his bases.

"No problem. I kinda wanted to eat something before we left, especially that oden that's been sitting on my fridge for the past three days. So, are we going to go or not?" Kagome motioned to the door and started walking.

InuYasha stared at her retreating figure and smiled to himself. What a catch! He thought. The her hips swayed in the most seductive yet completely innocent way, his mind could barely stay focused on his feet as he followed after her.

Before he knew it, they were standing next to his bike. Pushing her out of his mind, he grabbed a spare helmet that had been strapped to the back and offered it to her. She took it and slid it over her head as he did the same with his own helmet. InuYasha swung his leg over the bike and kicked the stand up. Kagome followed his lead by swinging her own leg over and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist for support.

Kami help me! She smells so good! InuYasha's mind buzzed. It was all he could do to kick-start the bike and rev the throttle. Taking a deep breath he steadied himself and his wandering mind, and pushed the bike backwards and into the street. With that, the two sped off towards downtown Tokyo.

xXx

"Kagura!" Naraku shouted from up in his warehouse office. "Where the (bleep!) is that gang?! I thought I told them to be here an hour ago?"

Kagura slowly ascended the stairs to the office and rehearsed what Bankotsu had told her only ten minutes earlier. He had told her about his dislike for Naraku and that the only reason he had agreed to carry out the plan was the money behind it. To make matters worse, he refused to see Naraku until their meeting in front of the hardware shop at the races. Kagura knew that the boss would not like it.

She stepped up to the door and gingerly slid it open. Naraku sat at his desk, his fingers tented and his eyes surprisingly calm. No light streamed in from the window, but the entire room was filled with a sort of purplish glow and the thick stench of rotting flesh, undoubtedly from him and his evil aura. Kagura discreetly put a hand over her nose and stepped in.

"Why aren't the Shichinintai here?" He asked calmly as he started tapping his fingers together lightly. She hated this mood even more than when he was yelling. At least then she knew what was going on, but now… Well, there was no telling what he would do, or what he was capable of doing.

"Bankotsu said that he refused to meet with you here. He said he had gleaned enough information from the phone call you made and he'd just meet you at the races beside Hamamoto's Garage." Kagura replied as calmly as she could while she opened her fan with a deft flick of the wrist.

Before Kagura knew what had happened, she was pinned to the opposite wall with her feet dangling and Naraku's hand pressing dangerously against her throat. His eyes seared into her own like fire, narrowing into thin slits that barely allowed her to see his odd white pupils. A devilish smile curled his lips as he spoke the next statement all to quietly.

"If you ever want to try that same trick, think again. Unless of course, you want me to squeeze your heart free of blood." He lifted his free hand to show Kagura her "spirit" heart. It beat in sync with her fleshly heart, but was almost opaque in appearance. He gave it a slight squeeze for good measure, just to see Kagura gasp in pain and wriggle for freedom.

He released his hold on her and she dropped to her knees clutching her chest. She gasped for breath and reached out a hand to retrieve her lost fan. Pulling together all her shattered pride, she weakly pulled herself up to a dignified kneeling position being far too weak to get to her feet without fainting.

"Go and get the limo ready. I want to arrive in style to see these miserable mortals screaming for their lives." A satirical smile curved across his face as he waved his hand in dismissal.

With as much dignity as she could muster, Kagura left the room and made her way to the garage in the back to get the limo ready for Naraku, silently cursing the very air he breathed as she went.

xXx

"Wow!" Kagome breathed as she dismounted the motorcycle and looked around her.

All of Sakura Boulevard was lit up with neon lights and strings of Christmas lights and paper lamps of every colour imaginable. Music blared from every store, mostly rock, but a little rap and techno too. Men and women made ready their motorcycles for the races, cleaning the exteriors and making last minute tweaks in the machinery. Never before had Kagome seen anything like it.

"Do ya like it?" InuYasha asked over his shoulder as he too made ready his trusty Katsu for the preliminary races.

"Do I? It's amazing! I've never seen so many lights before!"

"Don't look too surprised, these guys here're a rough lot. Careful where ya step and who ya happen to step on, ya never know what'll happen," the hanyou stood up slowly and wiped the grease from his hands with an old rag.

"Don't worry about me, I know kung fu!" Kagome ducked into a fighting stance to emphasize her meaning. InuYasha laughed as Kagome smiled and stood up straight.

The first part of the night went without a hitch, seeing as to the fact that InuYasha won every race he entered. Kagome snapped cameos of the whole scene now and then, but mostly kept to herself on the sidelines, watching passively as the races went on and on. The very air she breathed tingled with activity, and she was content to breathe it in alone. She was doing just fine before he showed up.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in, or should I say, look at what the dog dragged in. Don't tell me you've become an aikenka." Came a sarcastic voice to Kagome's left.

She whirled to glare at the man beside her, but threw her hand over her mouth when she saw whom it was that stood beside her gazing out over the races.

"Kouga?! What the (bleep!) are you doing here?" Kagome spat at the over-confident wolf youkai.

"Is that anyway to treat an old flame? I had rather hoped you'd come to see me. I own this whole shebang, you know? I'm the one that decided Tokyo's streets needed a little livening up." Kouga leaned casually against the window of the hardware store turned disco, and he could not have been much more than a foot away from Kagome's face.

Just then, InuYasha walked over, his smile vanishing when he saw Kouga hitting on his date. He was happy to see that Kagome was not enjoying it though; it made him feel a little bit better. But that did nothing to stop his blood from running cold then boiling hot.

"Hey, flea-bag! Quite hittin' on my date!"

"Well, if it isn't the old half-breed himself," Kouga faked a smile. " I look forward to watching you eat pavement tonight in the final race."

"Don't count on it, two-face. You'll have your tail tucked between your legs and running for mommy before I'm through with you." InuYasha snarled menacingly as he shielded Kagome from the cocky wolf.

"We shall see about that." With that, Kouga turned on heel and made his way to the other side of the street where his own date waited for him.

End of Chapter

Translations:

Moshi moshi Hello (phone only)

Katsu Victory

Oden a Japanese winter dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku and processed fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. Ingredients vary according to region and between each household.

Aikenka: A dog lover

Notes to the reviewers:

Thank you to all of you for holding on with me, and for reviewing, don't stop writing those reviews!! Teenagewitchling: Thanks for the encouragement! InuYasha (in my story) is actually molded by one of my guy friends… Pretty cool, once you get to know him. Petpeeves12: Have you ever been to a street race? They're cool… Darkfire can purehearts: (Laughs at enthusiasm) Thanks for liking the story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much! Pailynne-a-tron.: I hope you enjoyed the chapter!